In the Daily Mail, a well-known reporter named Kieran Gil wrote a column on Xavi Alonso's signing on May 17, from Hupu.
Let’s start with the bad news. I always start with the bad news. We lost the FA Cup final, no trophy, no European qualification. There's nothing to complain about, though, because City's winning goal was brilliant, even if there were questions about the penalty at Wembley. This is football.
What's the good news? That Xavi Alonso is coming. Will officially start taking office on July 1st. The contract was signed for four years. The title he holds is "manager" and not "head coach" – this is the first coach to officially use the title "manager" in his contract since Mourinho took charge of Chelsea for the second time in 2013.
Chelsea's two sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, informed the players of the news before the statement was written and released. After losing in the final, this undoubtedly seemed to be a shot of strong heart muscle for the team. This news can simply give people a feeling of uplifting spirit.
At that moment, Winstanley was standing next to the tunnel at Wembley Stadium. He wanted to make sure that no one broke tradition and rushed straight into the dressing room after receiving the runner-up medal. This was the case.
One of the five sporting directors was Joe Shields. He stood on the pitch, staying with the team, speaking passionately to captain Reece James, and looking at Manchester City lifting the trophy.
Building the right team culture is extremely important. Chelsea insist that Alonso has the ability to achieve this, and the club has also realized that this is an urgent need to improve and improve accordingly. His experience as a player and coach has given him such a unique temperament.
Alonso's success in Bayer Leverkusen was extremely historic. He led the team to win the first Bundesliga championship in team history, and lifted the German Cup as an "invincible team". Such an achievement requires not only tactics, but also building a correct team culture from within, and an environment that gathers elites.
Even his madhouse experience at Real Madrid, where he was cruelly sacked after just seven months, has served him well now, as he is on a mission to improve Chelsea's overall quality.
Alonso has been given this specific position and title, which means much more than it seems on the surface. Chelsea offered to make him a "manager" rather than a "head coach". He is the first head coach to receive this honor since the Blues took charge. The purpose of doing so is to emphasize his importance to Alonso and ensure that he has a say in the club's decision-making.
This covers all transfer-related matters, whether it is signings or departures. Sources speculate that these guarantees were passed to Alonso through his team before Chelsea met the 44-year-old Spaniard face-to-face. Alonso's agent is Inaki Ibáñez, who is also the agent of Bournemouth coach Andoni Iola, who is also one of the candidates Chelsea are carefully considering.
Although Chelsea has several "not for sale", Cole Palmer is one of them, Moises Caicedo is also one, and Joao Pedro is also the most important one. However, we can foresee that Alonso's first transfer window after taking office will be extremely active.
According to sources, Chelsea hope to sign up to three players with immediate fighting ability, and at the same time, sell those players they feel are redundant, and Alonso will be the key figure at the center of all this. He has been told that he will be on equal footing with the sporting director's team and the club's owners, who are led by the pragmatic Behdad Egbaly.
He is said to have impressed when it comes to signing a "mental monster" who will have a bigger say than Liam Rossinier, Enzo Maresca, Mauricio Pochettino and Graham Potter, with Chelsea prepared to show greater flexibility in the age of their signings.
An insider revealed that Chelsea's initial goal is to launch a strong challenge to the so-called Premier League championship within three seasons, or even shorter. The same source suggests that Chelsea have been highly alert to the possibility of a vacancy at Liverpool throughout the recruitment process, although the Anfield side are adamant that Arne Slott will remain in the team this summer.
This may explain why Chelsea announced the signing of Alonso immediately, but the initial plan was to wait until the end of the season to make a decision.
McFarlane has adjusted the formation to 3-4-2-1, which was Alonso's favorite formation during his time at Leverkusen. This is good news for the newly appointed coach. He can use this system to examine the adaptability of players, although he does not just coach this system.
Last weekend, Chelsea, coached by MacFarlane, used this system to cause a lot of trouble to Liverpool in the Premier League. In the FA Cup final, they started a fierce battle with Manchester City until the last moment, until Semenho's goal was particularly exciting, and the winner of the game was finally decided.
McFarland has the potential to continue managing the first team, and this state may continue under the leadership of Alonso, although the specific arrangements among the coaching staff are still in the process of being finalized. This isn't unusual – arrangements in these situations often begin after the head coach leaves.
According to Chelsea insiders, hiring Alonso is a sign of their so-called "progress". They have learned from the past and admitted that they made corresponding mistakes amid the angry voices of fans.
If you ask relevant people within Chelsea why Alonso was chosen, and why Alonso chose them, you will hear a series of key words, "character", "integrity", "discipline" and "leadership" are some of them, some of which are also mentioned in the official statement.
Tracing back to the source, Chelsea has an eager desire for victory, and Alonso also has an eager desire for victory. In fact, on that Saturday night, some insiders even insisted that this was all they felt they were about.
Rumor has it that Alonsouth is willing to work with the management, which is in line with modern football concepts. Some insiders firmly believe that they have a talented core of players who can devote themselves to it and are not too far away from competing for important honors.
Alonso has won many significant trophies during his player and coaching career, and at the age of 44, he is relatively young. What Chelsea values is the calm, wise and self-disciplined style that he has always maintained as a leader. They also know from his interviews that he is an excellent communicator who commands respect.
Of course, another important reason why Chelsea chose Alonso was "stability", which was also mentioned when appointing other head coaches. This time, however, it felt different. This changes almost everything in a big way.